


Amending A Law

by Star_Crow



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Married Couple, Royalty, Starting A Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 09:12:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11033157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Crow/pseuds/Star_Crow
Summary: Unusual, open-ended questions like that were very often meant as a trap, especially if they were coming from Aelin Ashryver-Galathynius. Aelin could corner any man with words and he was, to his damaged pride, equally susceptible.





	Amending A Law

“How do you feel about amending a law, Dorian?”

Dorian Havilliard looked up from Rifthold’s monthly ledger, spinning the quill in his fingers quizzically. Unusual, open ended questions like that were very often meant as a trap, especially if they were coming from Aelin Ashryver-Galathynius. Aelin could corner any man with words and he was, to his damaged pride, equally susceptible.

“A long, mind-numbing process that is often met with controversy.” he proceeded carefully. “Only used in absolutely necessary cases. Why? What unjust law have you managed to dig up from the archives?”

“No searching required for this one. They’re known well enough.” Aelin perched on the end of his work desk. “The Laws of Succession.”

“I wondered when you’d turn your attention to that document.” Dorian smiled a little. “It’s perhaps one of the most unfair legislations ever written, yet it’s been around for so long that most have accepted it as gospel.”

“Gospel or not, I want them amended.” Aelin said firmly.

Dorian frowned. “Why the sudden interest, after all this time?”

Aelin dropped her eyes, tapping her nails on the table. A nervous tick, Dorian noted.

“I want to have children,” she announced, resisting the urge to avert her eyes. “but I won’t while those stupid laws are still in place.”

“Because if our first child is a girl, she won’t be able to succeed if we have a son afterwards.” he finished, putting the record book in a drawer. “Which is unfair, no matter how you look at it.”

“My point exactly.” Aelin sighed, finally looking back at Dorian. “I might not even have a girl but if I do, it’ll be so much harder to change the law if she’s already been born. Do it now and we don’t have to worry about it in the future.”

Dorian bit his lip. Aelin’s eyes narrowed.

“Do you not want to appoint a girl as your heir?” she demanded.

“Of course I do. You know that I would. It’s just,” Dorian took a deep breath. “How can it be right to bind a baby to being the next ruler? It’s a hard life to lead, Aelin. It’s shackling. Even if you were raised for it. The people call me the reluctant king and I am. Or I was. I hated my parents when I was a child. Not because I knew anything about what was going on in the rest of the world.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I hated them because they took my life away from me before I ever got the chance to live it. They made choices that weren’t theirs to make and forced me to be something that I just wasn’t since before I was even born.”

His icy eyes met hers. “I will not do the same to my own children. I couldn’t live with myself.”

Aelin studied him for a moment. “They can abdicate.”

“And to what end? You know full well that if the rightful heir refuses to ascend, they’re completely shunned for their ‘lack of duty’. It’s seen as a terrible sin. They’d never be able to associate with anyone from their past life, let alone their family. It’s not an option that anyone takes.” Dorian glanced to the shadowed corner where his crown sat on its cushion. “If it was, I would have done it before my father died.”

“You would have let Hollin be the heir instead of you?” Aelin was stunned. He’d never even hinted at this before.

“If it was possible,” Dorian admitted. “But it wasn’t. I knew that I could do better than Hollin, better than my father. Passing up the crown would have been selfish. I couldn’t have lived with myself. Just imagine what I could have condemned the world to.” 

She didn’t want to think about it. Dorian hadn’t seen Hollin or his mother for several years. Dorian had nothing but twenty years of anger for Georgina. She’d gone back to her childhood home after her husband died and stayed there. As for Hollin, Dorian was still using the crown to support his brother. He was still at the school up in the mountains and he spent his holiday time with Georgina. That was just fine. It was the way Dorian wanted it. They had never been a family before so what was the use in pretending?

“We don’t shackle them.” Aelin said suddenly, sitting up on Dorian’s lap.

“What?”

“We don’t shackle them,” she repeated, excitement rushing through her at the idea. “If we have a baby, we don’t have to claim them as the heir straight away. We can wait until they’re older, sixteen or eighteen, and let them decide if they want to be the next king or queen. If they say no, they don’t have to go through abdication because they were never the heir. We can let one of our younger children succeed instead.”

Dorian’s brow crinkled in thought. 

“Say yes, Dorian,” Aelin pleaded.

“Alright,” he said quietly. “We can make it work for us,” He looked up at her, eyes sparking feverishly. “Are you sure this is what you want? No going back?”

“Yes,” she whispered, leaning in closer still as she unlaced his shirt. “This is what I want.”


End file.
